LANDMARK summer shows are among over 500 projects nationwide to receive LEADER funding, announced by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD, earlier this week.

The combined total allocated to four shows is in the region of €50,000.

In total there are now 531 projects approved for LEADER funding of over €14 million, compared to just 45 projects approved in the first half of the year.

LEADER is a key programme for delivery under the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development.

Minister Ring said: “I am delighted to see that the LEADER project approval process is now working more effectively and that almost 100 projects are being approved each month. There was a slow start to the new programme as new systems were put in place. However, the changes I have introduced to simplify the project approval process are beginning to take effect and I expect that these changes will have an even bigger impact in 2018.

“I want to commend the Local Action Groups, Local Authorities and Local Development Companies for their positive engagement in recent months and for their suggestions as to how the procedures could be simplified. My Department is committed to delivering on their suggestions – 31 Actions in total – and the majority of these have already been implemented.”

The Minister added: “While I am pleased with the progress in approving LEADER projects, I will be pushing the Local Action Groups and their partners to step up the pace of approvals further in 2018. This will be particularly important in the case in those Local Action Groups with low levels of approvals relative to their counterparts. I am delivering on my commitment to simplify the LEADER programme for project applicants and for Local Action Groups, and I want to see the benefits of these changes having an impact across every area of the country in 2018.”

Included in the list of approved LEADER recipients from the Department this week were: